Insight

Honeywell partnering with China's Comac on jet certification

02/17/2016|11:19:09 AM|Bloomberg

Honeywell International is working with China’s state-owned aircraft maker Comac to certify its planes, including the country’s first homegrown single-aisle jet that aims to challenge Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE’s control of the market.

Honeywell International is working with China’s state-owned aircraft maker Comac to certify its planes, including the country’s first homegrown single-aisle jet that aims to challenge Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE’s control of the market.

"It will be just as efficient and just as safe as predicted and as we’re saying, especially certified to Western -- whether FAA or EASA -- standards," Honeywell’s Asia-Pacific president Steven Lien told Bloomberg TV Tuesday at the Singapore Airshow. Honeywell supplies the narrowbody jet’s flight-control systems, wheels, brakes, auxiliary power units and navigation systems.

Shares of Honeywell rose 1.9 percent Feb. 12 to close at $103.48 before the U.S. Presidents Day holiday. The shares have declined by 0.5 percent over the past year, compared to the 11 percent fall in the S&P 500 Index over the same period.

China has faced repeated setbacks to its aircraft manufacturing program. The country’s focus on a homegrown aerospace industry is part of a broader push to elevate its economy into the ranks of advanced industrialized nations by 2020. With a capacity for 168 passengers, the C919 aims to challenge the dominance of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 in the market for planes with more than 100 seats.

Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China has received 517 purchase commitments for the C919 from 21 customers, the Shanghai-based company said when it unveiled a prototype of the plane in November. Test flights were delayed to "sometime this year" from last year.

The company’s ARJ21 regional jet also was plagued by delays, with its commercial operations originally expected 18 months after its first test flight in 2005. The ARJ21’s first recipient, Chengdu Airlines, has yet to commence its first commercial flight.